We’ve heard quite a bit about what Huawei’s working on for its first Windows Phone 8 devices, but while of those rumors have been mired in uncertainty, the one component that did look like it was rapidly becoming a reality has been the company’s Ascend W1. That model’s popped-up on camera time and time again, and we’ve also had some nice press renders of the phone to check out (above). Some early rumors suggested that Huawei may be able to launch the W1 for as cheaply as $310, but the latest claims to arrive make even that figure sound expensive by comparison, claiming that the W1 will sell off-contract for less than $200.

While that seems almost ridiculous on its face, could there be something to the idea? Certainly, we’ve seen the Nexus 4 deliver a lot of phone for just $300, and with the much lower specs we’ve heard attached to the W1 (like a 1.2GHz dual-core SoC and a WVGA display), maybe $200 isn’t so preposterous.

Still, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the sourcing behind this rumor, mentioned in a video that has subsequently been taken offline, isn’t the most convincing we’ve seen. We’d love to be surprised here, but also don’t want to get the wrong idea about the W1 without some better evidence.